In Game Blog: Women's Basketball at LSU - NCAA Tournament

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Welcome back to in-game
coverage of 2012-13 Lady Lions women's basketball season. Insight
and reaction will be provided by GoPSUsports.com throughout the NCAA Women's
Basketball Tournament, so check back often as the postseason progresses.

Penn State
(26-6) was unable to shake shorthanded LSU (22-11) in their second round
contest at the Pete Maravich Center on the Louisiana State campus. Take a quick
look at how the back-and-forth affair unfolded between the two teams and eventually
ended with the Lady Lions on the wrong end of the 71-66 affair.

1st Half: 15:14 - No. 8/8 Penn State 9, LSU
7
LSU came out riding the momentum from a very vocal crowd to grab an early 5-0
lead, but Penn State weathered the storm
and lead by two thanks to three baskets in the early going for Alex Bentley.
The Tiger are going to be without guard Jeanne Kenney tonight, who collided with
a teammate late in the Green Bay victory and had to be carried off the court,
so the LSU bench has only two players on it. Penn State has been playing a fast,
up-and-down pace and will need to continue to push the ball against a very good
matchup zone.

1st Half: 11:28 - No. 8/8 Penn State 12,
LSU 15
LSU has figured out the pace of this game, but Penn State has been moving a little
too fast and seem a little frustrated with the style of play right now. The Lady
Tigers are really coming at the Lady Lions, forcing four early turnovers and a
host of rushed shots. LSU, who shot just 27 percent from three point territory this
season, hit nine three points vs. Green Bay and have knocked down two already
tonight. Bentley had the three early baskets, but nothing since then, and Maggie
Lucas has yet to get a shot off. Both of those things need to change if PSU is
going to stay in this game.

1st Half: 7:27 - No. 8/8 Penn State 21, LSU
26
Penn State is getting beat at its own game right now. LSU is pushing the Lady
Lions around with PSU has possession and they are creating turnovers and tuning
them into easy baskets. As I asked in my previous paragraph, Bentley hit her
second three pointer of the night and Lucas is on the board with a pair of free
throws, but it is still a long road for the Lady Lions in this one and LSU has
Uncle Mo on their side right now, shooting 58 percent from the floor with 12
points in the paint. Nikki Greene will be at the line shooting two coming out
of the break.

1st Half: 3:47 - No. 8/8 Penn State 35, LSU
33
Trailing by eight points with 10:28 to go in the half, Penn State looked like
they were completely out of sync, but Bentley and Dara Taylor have turned up
the pressure defensively and forced a couple of turnovers that has led to some easy baskets. The
Lady Lions have started to find a little bit of flow on the offensive side. There
has been a lot of contact and a few bodies have hit the floor. Penn State has
three players with two fouls (Bentley, Edwards and Waldner), while LSU has only
Bianca Lutley with two.

End of 1st Half - No. 8/8 Penn State 42,
LSU 35
Alex Bentley and Nikki Greene have carried the offensive load for the Lady
Lions in the first half, scoring over
half of the team's points in the opening 20 minutes. Bentley has 14 points on
6-of-9 shooting with two assists and three rebounds, while Greene was 3-for-4
from the field and hit all four of her free throws to account for 10 points.

It didn't seem like LSU had a lot of gas in the tank as the half wore on, but
Penn State wasn't pressing the issue on the defensive end due to some pseudo foul
trouble. Bentley, Ariel Edwards, Mia Nickson and Tori Waldner all had two fouls
in the opening half.

LSU shot 50 percent and Penn State connected on 51 percent of their shots
during the first 20 minutes and each team ended the half with seven assists.
Penn State holds a slight edge on the boards (15-14), turned the ball over two
fewer times (7-9) and had two more steals (6-4).

The Lady Lions closed the half with a 21-9 run to stretch their lead to seven
points heading into the break. When leading at the half, Penn State is 20-2 on
the season. The Lions let a four point lead slip away at Wisconsin during the regular
season and led by two points vs. Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals
at the half.

2nd Half: 17:05 - No. 8/8 Penn State 42,
LSU 43
Penn State has three turnovers already in the second half and LSU has made them
pay with an 8-0 run to open the second half and recaptured the lead for the
first time since the 4:37 mark of the first half. After making the adjustment
to the physicality of LSU in the first half, the Tigers have raddled the Lady
Lions cage again here to open the second half. PSU will need to get back to the
fast pace of play and try to ware down the shorthanded LSU squad.

2nd Half: 11:51 - No. 8/8 Penn State 52,
LSU 55
LSU's senior duo of Adrienne Webb and Biana Lutley have put the roster of just
seven on their shoulders and are carrying the Tigers towards the upset. Webb
has 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while Lutley is 5-of-8 from the field and
has 12 points. Maggie Lucas has one field goal already in the second half,
after hitting just one in the opening 20 minutes, but it has been Ariel Edwards
providing the offensive spark early in the second with six of the team's 10
points. LSU is shooting 81 percent from the field so far this half, compared to
just 33 percent for PSU.

2nd Half: 7:56 - No. 8/8 Penn State 58, LSU
55
There hasn't really been one player you can point to that has carried the Lady
Lions against LSU, it has just been a team effort and they will need that to
continue down the stretch if they want to win this game. Nikki Greene already
has a double-double with 14 points and 14 huge rebounds, including seven on the
offensive end. Dara Taylor is doing a nice job on the offensive side of the
ball and is keeping the game at a steady Lady Lions pace. Webb continues to hound
Maggie Lucas, who is just 2-for-7 from the field in the game, and Lucas hasn't had
an open look really this half.

2nd Half: 3:29 - No. 8/8 Penn State 62, LSU
60
Folks if you are just reading what I am writing, you need to find a TV with
ESPN2, ASAP. This game is going to be a Maalox Masher coming down the stretch. LSU
and Penn State have been trading punches - figuratively - the entire game and
it doesn't seem that either team is going to give an inch to the other. The
Tigers are shooting a tad better than PSU from the floor, 45 percent to 34
percent in the second half, and Penn State has yet to connect on a three
pointer this half.

The LSU faithful is trying to cheer their team to the finish line, but will
Lucas, Bentley and the rest of the Lady Lions be able to grab their second win
in front of a hostile crowd? Tune in and watch, but keep reading, as well.

FINAL - No. 8/8 Penn State 66, LSU 71
It was all that I thought it would be inside the PMAC. I knew that LSU would
play inspired in front of their home crowd, but with a short bench I was not
sure if they would be able to keep up with the Lady Lions for a full 40
minutes. Well, they proved me wrong.

After Penn State built a five point lead, 60-55, with 7:54 to play, LSU
proceeded to close the game on a 16-6 run behind the efforts of Lutley and
Webb. The pair of LSU guards combined for 47 of the team's 71 points, and were
the only two LSU players in double figures.

It seemed like each time that LSU needed a hoop they got it, followed by an
eruption from the 3,055 fans in the stands, and the Lady Lions just couldn't
find a rhythm in the second half on either end.

Maggie Lucas ended the game with just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting and was
locked up by Webb for most of the night. Greene made her last game in the blue and
white count with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Bentley netted 14 points in her
last game at PSU. Ariel Edwards had 10 of her 13 points in the second half.

What To Look For:
- Penn State has enjoyed the No. 3 seed in the NCAA
Tournament since first grabbing the seed in the 1985 bracket. In their fifth
trip to the national tournament as the third seed, Penn State has advanced to
the Regional Semifinals in three of those appearances. Prior to 2013, the Lady
Lions earned the seed in 1985, '86, '92 and '93
tournament, with their only early bow-out coming in 1993 with a loss to Georgetown in University Park,
Pa.

- The Lady Lions will be looking to do something that doesn't often happen in
college basketball; beat the same team in the NCAA Tournament twice. Making it
even rarer, they will be trying to accomplish that task in consecutive years in
the same round. Last season, Penn State grabbed a 90-80 victory in Baton Rouge
to punch their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen and a date with Connecticut. This
season Penn State or LSU will advance to meet Cal in the Spokane, Wash. on
March 30.